UK Chancellor George Osborne has warned that the Greek debt row with the European Union is “fast becoming the biggest threat to the global economy.”

George Osborne met with his visiting Greek counterpart Yanis Varoufakis in London on Monday.

RT report: Greece’s standoff with Eurozone governments and international creditors poses a greater threat to the global economy than conflict in the Middle East, climate change and rising tensions between Russia and the West, UK Chancellor George Osborne says.

After a meeting with Greece’s new finance minister, Yanis Varoufakis, Osborne implored Greece and the Eurozone’s 18 other states to act “responsibly” as the newly elected Greek government attempts to renegotiate the country’s €240 billion (£180 billion) bailout program.

Since coming to power in late January, the largely leftist Syriza government’s challenge to the austerity diktats of EU policy makers has been made clear.

As it continues to collide with Eurocrats over plans to reverse draconian austerity policies and renegotiate the country’s debt burden, concern is growing among neoliberal governments and international creditors alike.

Following his meeting with Varoufakis on Monday morning, Osborne said the discussions were “constructive.” But he warned that the current impasse between the Greek government, Eurocrats and international creditors poses a serious risk to economic stability throughout Europe.

Osborne said he asked Varoufakis to “act responsibly” when preparing to restructure Greece’s social and economic position on a heavily indebted European stage. But he acknowledged the Eurozone needs a “better plan for jobs and growth.”

Osborne said the Conservative Party’s economic plan for Britain would continue to increase employment levels and growth, and should be loyally pursued through uncertain economic times.

He warned that tensions between the Greek government and the architects of its IMF-EU imposed bailout pose a “rising threat to the British economy,” and that a path of “competence over chaos” in Europe is paramount.

But in contrast to Osborne, US President Barack Obama warned that perpetual austerity in Greece may well backfire against creditors’ interests.

“You cannot keep on squeezing countries that are in the midst of depression,” Obama told CNN.

“At some point, there has to be a growth strategy in order for them to pay off their debts to eliminate some of their deficits,” he added.